Morning
by FieryFaerie
Summary: After the end, Kagome makes a wish on the jewel and is left behind in the feudal era without Inuyasha. She moves to the taijiya village, and the rest is history. KagomeKohaku


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha.

Written for Numisma in the June round of iy-flashfic at livejournal!

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When Kagome made her wish on the jewel, five years after she'd seen it for the first time, she imagined that she was putting everything back in its rightful place. It was a simple wish, definitely not selfish, and when it was done she thought she could just go home, back to where she belonged, and life for everyone else would just go on. Everyone could be happy.

But, of course, that was just too easy.

Kagome wished that Inuyasha and Kikyo could have a second chance, but instead of bringing Kikyo back to life, or any of the other eventualities that Kagome had prepared for, they disappeared, along with the jewel. Kaede decided that they'd probably been sent back to the beginning, fifty years beforehand, so they could have their second chance.

Maybe so they could just repeat history all over again. Everyone hoped that they would remember everything that had happened.

Kagome hoped that Inuyasha would remember _her_.

But at least almost everything else seemed to be where it was supposed to be. Kagome resigned to the fact that her wish wasn't what she'd meant it to be, but the jewel was gone, and she just had to trust that somewhere, Inuyasha and Kikyo had a chance at being happy. Kagome said her goodbyes, and headed for home.

Except that the well wouldn't let her through.

Kagome was baffled. She'd never been able to get through the well from her time to the feudal era without jewel shards or Inuyasha, but she'd never had a problem getting back home before. It seemed that now that the jewel and Inuyasha were both gone, the well just decided to stop working. Even after jumping in several times, it still wouldn't let her through. Frustrated and out of breath, Kagome returned to the village.

She stayed with Kaede for a while, helping her tend to the sick and collecting herbs, as Kaede's hands had started to get to stiff and gnarled to do it anymore.

The well still would not open.

Life went on. Miroku went back to visit Mushin for a few months and tied up all loose ends there, giving Sango and Kohaku a chance to reconnect. Shippo, after tagging along with Kagome for a few weeks and being bored completely out of his mind, was finally convinced to go stay with Kouga's tribe to learn youkai-related survival techniques and the like, as he was growing up and needed to learn to fend for himself. Life fell into some sort of rhythm.

Kagome tried to get through the well almost daily, but day after day all she had to show for it were scraped knees and her ever-diminishing hope of ever returning home.

Sango and Kohaku spent a lot of time together, Sango staying close Kohaku throughout most of the day. Kohaku didn't speak much, but had grown into a strong, handsome young man of almost seventeen. When Kagome would walk by them, sitting by the river, she noticed that Sango often looked frustrated, and that Kohaku's eyes were usually downturned. It seemed as though even though Naraku was dead and they were together again, a rift remained between the siblings. Sango was interested in moving on with their lives, while Kohaku was invariably still stuck in the past and what he'd done, whether it was of is own will or not. Kagome came to realize that she'd never seen him smile.

When Miroku returned from Mushin's, he and Sango made plans to marry, and then to move back to the abandoned taijiya village, along with Kohaku and Kirara, to start over. They tried to convince Kagome to come with them, but she refused, wanting to stay close to the well and Kaede, clinging to the tiny shards of hope that one day Inuyasha would come back, or the well would let her go home, but one day, almost a year after the well had closed for good, Kaede took a turn for the worse, and passed away within the month. With a few choice words from Kohaku, she was able to finally accept the fact that the well was probably closed for good. Kagome agreed to go to the taijiya village with her friends.

Sango and Miroku were optimistic, excited at the prospect of starting a new life, starting a family, and rebuilding the village. They filled the spaces in between the broken well and their new home with chatter about plans and the future and all the exciting things it held. Kagome didn't talk much, and Kohaku was nearly silent.

When they finally arrived at the village, they found that it was much as they'd last left it. There was only one shelter that was still mostly standing, and even it was heavily damaged. The four of them, plus Kirara, moved into the small hut, and began rebuilding. It was decided that the newlyweds would live in the most intact hut, while Miroku and Kohaku would work together to build two more shelters for Kagome and Kohaku. Sango and Kagome set to work clearing debris and searching for anything salvageable amongst the fallen buildings.

As they worked over the next few weeks, Kagome and Sango talked idly, but there seemed to be barriers between them that hadn't been there before. Kagome had become distant, and Sango, for the first time in a very long time, was finally happy. The two quickly ran out of common threads, and neither wanted to talk about the past. They worked in silence, for the most part, and after awhile, in order to avoid Sango's eye, Kagome began watching the men build.

Both men had made great progress on their own respective projects. Miroku had been working on fixing the hut that he and Sango had claimed, and in just a few short days had managed to place a sturdy roof over their heads, but the real remarkable accomplishment was the fact that Kohaku had managed to put up all four walls of the second hut in almost the same amount of time. Kagome realized that she hadn't seen him take a break at all in the days he'd been working, unless he'd been forced to stop by Sango or Miroku. Apparently the last six years of constant battle and flight had done wonder for the boy's strength and stamina.

One hot day, Kagome observed that both men had shrugged out of their shirts and were both sweating profusely. It hadn't passed her notice that Sango had been stealing glances at Miroku all afternoon. They were still in the honeymoon stage of their marriage, and Kagome knew that they would probably want the completed hut to themselves as soon as possible. Sharing the small shelter with both herself and Kohaku was undoubtedly frustrating, although they would never say so. Kagome hoped that Kohaku would finish the second hut quickly, so the newlyweds could have some time to themselves.

Glancing back over at the hut that Kohaku was diligently working on, she was surprised to find that he was already starting on the roof of the small house. Kagome stared for a minute, letting her eyes wander over the boy's muscular chest for a moment; before she felt him glance her way, and quickly turned back to the file of broken dishes she'd been sorting through. She felt a blush creep over her cheeks.

That night was clear and warm, so Kohaku suggested that Kagome sleep in the new hut, despite the fact that the roof was only halfway completed. Kagome agreed, knowing that Kohaku wanted to give Miroku and Sango their alone time just as much as she did. Kohaku had disappeared the last couple of nights, and she was sure that he'd found someplace else to sleep, so the newlyweds would finally have their time alone.

Lying in her new home that night, Kagome stared up at the stars. The night sky revealed thousands of stars that she'd never dreamed of seeing at home. She let her mind wander back to the last time she'd stargazed like this. It was a little over a year prior with Inuyasha, just a few days before the final defeat of Naraku. At the time, Kagome had wanted to discuss the future with Inuyasha, but looking back she was grateful for the silence in one of the last times they'd been able to spend together, alone.

She thought back to other nights when she'd stared up at the stars. Eight summers ago, when she and Souta had gone to summer camp together and he'd pointed out constellations for her, and even further back, almost to the very beginning of memory when her father had done the same. So many memories wrapped up in those heavenly bodies. Kagome closed her eyes and tried to pinch back tears, knowing that she wouldn't sleep that night. She got out of bed, hoping that a short walk would calm her down so she could sleep.

She wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and wandered through the village, the full moon illuminating the broken buildings. She heard a shuffle in the foundation of one of the very badly damaged buildings and jumped back, fearing that it was a small youkai of some sort, then Kohaku emerged from the rubble. He sighed heavily, brushing off his clothes before he realized that Kagome was standing there with a gasp.

"You scared me," he said softly, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips but not quite reaching the rest of his face, "couldn't sleep?" Kagome smiled back.

"No," she answered, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders, "is this where you've been the past few nights?"

"Yes," he said, "I...I've been having nightmares...about Naraku and everything...and I didn't want to bother Sango." He shifted from foot to foot, avoiding eye contact with Kagome, "This place isn't so bad." With a sigh, Kagome reached for his hand.

"Come on, come sleep in my hut. It's big enough and I really don't like the thought of you sleeping in a pile of junk."

"N-no, that's okay," Kohaku said, "I don't think I'm going to be able to fall back to sleep tonight anyway."

"Then do you want to go for a walk or something?"

"Okay."

He didn't take her hand, but they walked closely, side by side, out into the woods surrounding the village. Kagome had been too afraid to venture into the dark on her own, but she knew that Kohaku knew the forest he'd grown up in like the back of his hand. They walked for several hours, talking quietly about this or that, slowly venturing into the forbidden territory of the past.

Kagome talked about Souta and Buyo while Kohaku divulged secrets about Sango and Kirara. They exchanged stories about their parents, their schooling, and drifted slowly into the pain of the past. Kagome told Kohaku about how responsible she felt for everything that had happened because of the jewel, and Kohaku told Kagome about the guilt he still carried for his father's death.

Shortly before dawn, Kohaku whispered in Kagome's ear that he wanted to show her something, and she followed him through the trees, finding his hand in the first glow of the morning.

They came upon a beautiful field of white lilies, the petals illuminated for the first rays of the sun rising up over the horizon. Kagome forgot to breathe for a moment.

"It's beautiful," she gasped, squeezing Kohaku's hand tighter, and she stole a glance at Kohaku's face, where a small smile had formed that finally reached his eyes. Kagome grinned. "You know, this is the first time I've seen you smile in the six years that I've known you," she said.

"It's a new day," he said, picking a flower and handing it to Kagome, "I just realized."

The two walked back to the village hand in hand, and promptly collapsed in the new hut Kohaku had built for Kagome, smiles on both of their faces.

When Kagome awoke late the next morning, she opened her eyes to a clear blue sky.

'_It's a new day,_' she thought, as she watched Kohaku, who was already up on the roof, finishing her new home.


End file.
